October 23, 2023
Your body’s matrix of fluid-filled tissue is a system capable of absorbing and donating electrons (qì) wherever they are needed, from the surface of our skin all the way into our DNA.
October 16, 2023
Ancient practitioners were mind/body scientists of the subtle body, working with their Qì to promote health, healing, and extraordinary vitality and longevity.
October 9, 2023
The experience of seeing light during meditation is universal for many types of meditation and prayer for people in various cultures all around the world.
February 27, 2023
Remind your clients, that it is impossible to know when the natural results will arise and that patience and perseverance, in cultivation of wellbeing, is the recognized best practice for catalyzing the intended good result.”
February 20, 2023
One of my favorite teachers, Master Zhu Hui from Tian Tai Mountain in eastern China told me, “A person who makes wise use of the Three Intentional Corrections a few times a day will resolve their pains, cure their diseases, and achieve longevity.”
In Qìgōng we say “Where the mind goes, energy flows.” Or more traditionally, the “Yi leads the Qì”; your intention leads your energy. You can think of your intention as your core consciousness merged with, or “riding on”, your most subtle energy. How do you “lead Qì to the palms”? Bring your mind to the palms, and energy increases there.
Both Western and Eastern medical traditions base their definition of health on the correct functioning of bodily systems. In the Western paradigm, this is considered optimal cellular metabolism. In the Eastern model, this is considered the smooth flow of qi. Which concept is correct? They both are.
With a preventive approach, we find a way to live well by following the ancient wisdom of “Going with the Flow.” Everything has two sides: the Yin, and the Yang. Going with the flow, we realize the Yin changes to Yang, and the Yang changes to the Yin. Everything turns out to be better eventually.
To be good at Wu-style tai chi, it takes a lot of practice. Make sure every hand movement, body movement and footwork is precise. The absolute precision of every movement is the ultimate goal for practitioners. Throughout the form all movements and energies should be smoothly and fluidly connected without any pauses or stops.
Sun-style tai chi is characterized by a very unique flavor. Its agile footwork and emphasis on the circulation of qi and health benefits make it a very popular style of tai chi among all ages of tai chi practitioners. It usually takes about 10 months to learn the Sun tai chi 73 routine in our school. And it takes years of practice to be good at it. To master it, it will take a lifetime of training.
I met David (Verdesi) in Moscow to meet Chinese qi gong healers that could send a current of energy through your body that was so strong it felt like you were holding both ends of a car battery.
Qigong means “energy skill,” and it is a gradual process of becoming familiar with the subtle energy circulating within your body on a cellular level, and how it is changing every day, every hour, second by second. This energy, or qi, is bioelectricity; you are a living bioelectromagnetic field. With continued practice and observation, a qigong practitioner becomes more sensitive and aware of how the body’s energy is fluctuating on a daily basis and why. Repeated qigong practice leads one to gradually feel healthier, and ultimately reach a point of feeling that it is “difficult to get sick.”
Learning is a big part of healing, especially in the healing of emotions. We know our emotions influence our physical body. The brain's emotional center needs to be refreshed, nourished, stimulated, and balanced. When you start to learn things you are not familiar with, you start to shift your focus onto new knowledge, new approaches, and a new life. This sort of internal transformation can improve your situation in life. It is as if you are shifting negative energy to positive energy. The more positive energy you have, the better the chance you can be healed.
Chen Style Lao Jia Er Lu is a more complex and advanced level routine that is characterized with burst of power emission movements and more martial applications. Understanding how to utilize softness, gentleness, coiling and silk reeling into a burst of power emission and martial application would be the main focus in learning this form.
The Chen-style traditional forms offer progressive training. The first form focuses on Peng, Lu, Ji, An, or Ward Off, Rollback, Press and Push, as primary techniques and Cai, Lei, Zhou, Kao as assisting techniques. This builds our foundation physically and mentally, and is a common focus in many tai chi styles. But, in Cannon Fist, Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao or Pull Down, Split, Elbow Strike, and Body Leaning Strike are used as the primary techniques and Peng, Lu, Ji, An are used as assisting techniques, which deepens the skill and nuance of your practice.
Marisa discovered Qigong as a student at Zhejiang University, China in 1999 through a local taiji chuan master. Since she has studied with many of the world’s top Qigong masters, some well-known and others off the grid. Marisa formally trained and is certified to teach with blessings from masters of two lineages of Qigong: Universal Healing Tao with Master Mantak Chia and Master Robert Peng.
The cost of treating chronic illnesses in the United States accounts for 75 percent of the health-care budget. For the year 2009, when $2.5 trillion was spent on medical care overall, almost $1.9 trillion was allocated to the treatment of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and cancer; 70 percent of all deaths in America were attributable to these chronic illnesses.
Chinese Medicine focuses on preventing disease and illness from occurring. As Qi Gong practitioners, we view preventative medicine as true health care, because it is caring for our health while it is still… well, healthy.
We need to be mindful of developing healthy habits such as washing out hands after touching things outside of the house, drinking more water, keeping distance from people, and wearing a proper mask when necessary. These are all very important actions and should be done routinely during these difficult times.
Taiji movements are not like any other exercise. The special choreographed movements are circular and in constant motion. Many gestures cross the body from left to right, from upward to downward, and from right diagonal to left diagonal. It is multidimensional. The footwork is slow, on the diagonal, well controlled, and involves multiple changing stances.
This was the question I asked myself as I sat in a cafe some 17 years ago. Saint Valentine is particularly close to my heart. In early 2002, I was studying for my acupuncture board exams, and I noticed an article about Saint Valentine in the local paper. It gave a brief recount of the Saint’s life that I found fascinating.
I was surprised to see so many people suffering from depression during my time of taking care of patients from 1997 to 2013. Many of their problems were not genetic, which can often be the underlying cause of depression.
Now is the time to start your action and make things happen. We all have different plans even though we have similar goals. We must put theory into action. Without action, nothing works. As unique as each of us is, as individually tailored as each healing plan might be, there is one item that should be on everyone's list: exercise.
Both Western and Eastern medical traditions base their definition of health on the correct functioning of bodily systems. In the Western paradigm, this is considered optimal cellular metabolism. In the Eastern model, this is considered the smooth flow of qi. Which concept is correct? They both are.
During college my greatest teachers were not professors, and the greatest lessons were not revealed in the classroom. The University of California at Berkeley, which I attended, was home to more than 20 Nobel Prize winning teachers, had an unprecedented research reputation, and was the number one public university in the country. Still, the wisdom I discovered came from teachers without doctorates who taught in a small building across town that I would never have known existed if I had not been lead there.